These Words
by My Reality Is My Own
Summary: Tifa notices that Denzle and Cloud have been acting strange. She's determined to get to the bottom of it.   Pointless Fluff


Summary: Tifa notices that Denzel and Cloud have been acting strange. She's determined to get to the bottom of it. [Pointless Fluff]

It's in the Cloud/Tifa section merely because it's hinted that Cloud and Tifa are together. I like the two of them together, but I don't really like insisting on it...or something. Whatever, please enjoy and review. :3

Edit: Oh my god I FUCKING SPELLED DENZEL'S NAME WRONG! *goes off on rant* I'VE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE AND I DON'T LIKE DOING IT AT ALL! Thanks to the people who told me. I appreacite it. :3

Tifa had always been fond of children. She was just naturally good at taking care of them, caring for them and loving them. When Barret asked her to look after Marlene while he was away to find a different energy source than Mako, she was beyond happy. After all, Marlene was a loving, beautiful girl and Tifa loved her very much. She would always remember the day Marlene asked how to braid her hair, and then putting it in the same style as Aeris did. Cloud hadn't taken it as well, but Tifa appreciated that he kept it to himself.

But Marlene wasn't hers. She was Barret's, and Tifa and Cloud still had a lot of things to get through before they thought of having their own children. The gorgeous ring he had bought was definitely a start. But then there were more problems with Kadaj, the Lifestream and UnderGround. But something...wonderful happened before any of that. While the Geostigma was still spreading and becoming a problem, they had found Denzel.

Tifa cared for him when Cloud brought him home. She talked with him a lot, trying to get him to open up to her. She did all the things she had done with other children, but somehow...none of it worked. It was when she was muttering to Cloud that she noticed an odd look in his eyes, and she remembered that Cloud had held the boy's hand the whole way home. So, she asked, very discrete like, if he'd talk to Denzel. It only took five minutes before Cloud went upstairs, and it took two hours for him to come back. When asked, the only response she got was,

"He's staying with us."

Since then, she had gotten close with Denzel. He really was like her son, and when, after all the fighting, Marlene finally left them to have her life with her father, they were a family. Sure, Tifa wanted her own children someday, but this was enough for now. She was happy. Denzel meant so much to her now. And she was glad that Cloud was staying with them, having gotten a 'Closed' sign from Yuffie as a gift and he was actually using it...Mostly, he was just around the house helping but he was _there_.

It was almost perfect.

And it was enough.

Tifa noticed immediately that something was off.

Denzel, in his spare time, was usually carving things, or he was hanging around Cid's hanger and learning mechanics. He liked to surprise Cloud with having a special up-grade or such for Fenrir, and it was one of the few times that Cloud would outright smile at anyone. But today, he just...moped. All around the house. He'd sit in a chair, sigh, get up. Move to the couch, sigh, get up. Move to his bed, lay down and stare off at nothing. Then he'd move back to the chair. Rinse, repeat.

After recovering from the Geostigma, Denzel was always actived because he couldn't be before; activity caused the sickness to spread faster. So, apart from how he was acting, the lazing about was definitely a sign that something wasn't right. She watched him, and it continued for a week. She had hoped that maybe it would solve itself, or she thought that Cloud would do something about it because, well...like it or not, Cloud obviously had a soft spot for Denzel. When that didn't happen, Tifa tried to talk to him. Denzel just looked surprised, muttered some half-assed excuse and went up to his room. This made Tifa frown, and she went about work at the bar like usual and knew she'd just have to corner Denzel later.

At ten that night, she closed early and went upstairs. Denzel was laying in bed, looking at the pictures on the tablestand. He used to do that a lot when he was sick. Tifa just looked around casually and put her hands on her hips.

"If something's bothering you, you should tell someone."

He didn't answer. Tifa wanted to roll her eyes, thinking that maybe the quality time Cloud and Denzel spent needed to be cut short. They were acting a lot alike now.

"Did something happen with Cid?"

No repsonse.

"With Marlene?" They wrote each other letters.

No response.

"...With the kids around the neighborhood?" It wasn't like they lived in the nicer part of Edge.

A twitch. Tifa almost smirked.

"Did something happen between them and you, Denzel?"

He rolled on to his stomach and muttered into his pillow. Tifa frowned a little, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Please tell me."

"They make fun of me because I'm shorter than they are." he finally said, not looking at her.

Tifa nodded, the frown deepening. "And what do you do when they do this?"

"I try to ignore them...but I get mad and I start fights. I would win if they didn't gang up on me!"

Uh oh...now for the big question. "Does Cloud know?"

Silence. Tifa looked over at Denzel, seeing he had gone back to hiding his face into the pillow. She was going to repeat the question, maybe a bit more sternly than before, but didn't get the chance to.

"He found out...and he got that scary look on his face."

Tifa tilted her head, trying not to smile. "At you?"

"No, at the other kids. But I almost wish he had...I think they're too afraid to come near me now."

"Are you lonely?"

Denzel shook his head. "No, I'm fine...but I did something really stupid after that..." At this, the black haired women tensed slightly. "I think Cloud's mad at me now."

Tifa hummed slightly, trying to think what Denzel could do that would make Cloud angry...sure, there were actually a lot of things, but none of them really fit for what was going on. "Did you know Cloud was picked on when he was younger...for the same reason?"

Denzel sat up, his face a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "Cloud was _picked on_?"

"He was always smaller than anyone else." Tifa explained softly, thinking of what Cloud would do if he knew what she was saying. "It was one of the reasons he went to join SOLDIER. He wanted to prove that he could be someone even though he was so short. In the end, he failed the exams three times and then became the savior of Gaia by stopping Sephiroth." She smiled at him, ruffling his hair slightly. "Cloud cares about you. A lot. Or else he would've skinned you alive when you knocked over Fenrir before."

Even at the mere mention of the memory, Denzel shuddered before he ducked out from under her hand. "Not this time...I think he hates me now."

Tifa did roll her eyes this time. "Denzel, Cloud could never hate you. You're practically his s-"

"I..." Denzel wrapped his arms around his legs, hastily wiping his eyes in a vain attempt that no one would see him cry. "I-I called him...Dad."

Silence.

Tifa actually froze, words of comfort dying on her lips. Denzel...had called Cloud his dad? It was definitely unexpected, since Denzel kept an old picture of his mom and dad...and Tifa had promised herself that she wouldn't be hurt if he never thought of them as his parents. She had been ready for it...it might make the teenage rebellion stage harder to deal with, but it would be okay. This...this changed all of that.

"Why...why do you think he's mad at you for that?" Tifa managed, trying to smooth things over.

"Because he's not really my dad!" Denzel argued, making it sound like an obvious thing. "And you're not my mom...It just...slipped. He got this weird look on his face, and...drove off. He's mad at me because he would rather have his own kids call him that than me."

Tifa smiled, reaching out and taking his hand. "Denzel...Cloud loves you."

"No he doesn't."

The dark haired women sighed and rolled her eyes again. Yep, just like Cloud. Even got the moody part down. "Denzel, it's obvious that Cloud does. He does all these little things that he doesn't have to, and he does them to make you and I happy. He declines jobs, he's been training you when you asked, he answers the phone...a bit, he even forgave you for putting a huge dent in Fenrir when I know for a fact that it was anyone else, they'd have been skewerd."

Denzel chuckled slightly, wiping his eyes. "But...I'm not really..."

"It doesn't matter." Tifa said, her smile widening. "You probably just surprised him. We've talked about this before. We didn't want to make it seem like we were pressuring you, so we never mentioned it. But Cloud does see you as his own son. And I do too." She helped in wiping away his tears. "I think he didn't want to scare you by being happy about it...because it might've been an accident and he didn't want to jump to conclusions. You know how Cloud gets."

Denzel nodded. He smiled slightly. "You think it'd be okay...if I kept calling him that?"

Tifa nodded. "Of course. Whether it's by blood or not, you are our son, Denzel. And we love you."

"Alright...thanks, Mom."  
-

"There you are." Tifa greeted, seeing Cloud walk in the front door of Seventh Heaven. "Geez, Cloud, you're filthy."

Cloud looked over and saw he was tracking dirt through the house but just shrugged and undid First Tsuguri, setting the large sword on a strap on the wall. He felt Tifa watching him, and knew that they were going to have to talk about something...most likely Denzel. Cloud wasn't really looking forward to it, but he knew that i needed to be done. He just hoped that he didn't scare the boy too much by taking off without a word.

"I noticed that Denzel was acting weird." Tifa said casually, seeing Cloud's shoulders tense up. "It took me awhile, but I finally got him to talk to me about it."

Cloud sighed, turning to look at her. "I overreacted."

Tifa snorted. "You took off without saying anything. Denzel thought you were mad at him."

"Mad at him?" Cloud echoed, blinking. "I was just..."

"Cloud," Tifa smiled. "he really meant it...what he said."

Something in Cloud's chest tightened. "Are you sure?"

She rolled her eyes. "_Yes_, I'm sure. You need to remember that we adopted him. That makes him our son. And he meant it...he thinks of you as his dad."

Cloud looked over at nothing, hiding. Tifa knew him too well though, and knew what he was thinking. She just waited, cleaning a couple dishes for when she reopened the bar tonight. Reno mentioned the Turks wanting to come since they had been busy lately.

"I don't know how to be a dad, Tifa."

She hummed slightly. "Well, now's a good time to learn."

It was at this time that Denzel came down the stairs, obviously having heard Fenrir pull up. He smiled brightly, making Cloud wonder if Tifa had been serious about him thinking he was mad at him. Then again...he did run off for a week.

"Hi, Dad!"

Cloud felt his breath hitch slightly. It had caught him off guard the first time...he hadn't been expecting it. And he thought that maybe he would need to talk to Denzel before the boy felt comfortable saying it again...if he still wanted to say it. But, that was something he liked about Denzel. He was stubborn and he was confident. Two things he compared to Tifa, so maybe...maybe it was true. Denzel really _was_ his son. It just...took some time before it hit him.

Oh _fuck_, that made him a father.

Slowly, getting rid of the panic, Cloud smiled. "Hello, Denzel. I got you something."

He had forgotten until then. He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a materia. Only, this one wasn't manufactored. Actual, natural materia were near impossible to find, but Cloud had stumbled on this one while he was driving by the Nibel Mountains. It was a Heal, and it was very powerful. Something perfect for a beginner.

Somehow, Denzel's smile got bigger. "For me?"

Cloud nodded. "That way you don't have to dig out mine for practice."

He took it, looking the small orb over. Natural materia was always more pretty than the made ones. It glowed brighter, and just holding it gave off a warm feeling. Denzel looked up at Cloud, blushing slightly.

"Thanks Dad."

The word struck something in Cloud, making him want to turn away. But he knew if he did, Denzel would probably think it was because of him. And it wasn't. It was Cloud's own demons, the memories of growing up with only his mother. He didn't want that for Denzel. Even though the boy was a lot older than he had been.

"Let's go. You have a week of practice to make up for."

The smile disappeared immediately as the boy groaned, already complaining about soreness and how it would make him sick. He didn't mention that he loved training with Cloud, or that it was Cloud's fault he hadn't trained in a week. He just pocketed the materia, grabbed Cloud's hand and said goodbye to Tifa ("Mom") as he pulled the blond man with him. Cloud felt the corners of his mouth lift slightly as the went over to where he had parked Fenrir.

"Does this mean you trust me to drive Fenrir sometime?" Denzel asked as Cloud helped him on.

Cloud smirked. "I don't think so."

"Aw, come on! It was an accident."

"No. It's the sons job to clean it but I'll stay with the driving."

Denzel blinked before he smiled wide enough to show all his teeth. It was the first time he heard Cloud actually acknowledge him as his son. It made him so happy...he was embarrassed when he felt his eyes water. He went to wipe them away, but leather gloves got their before he did.

"Denzel..." Cloud began, looking uncertain. "I'm going to take care of you...from now on, okay?"

He nodded. It seemed like an odd thing to say, but Denzel knew. He knew exactly what Cloud was trying to say but couldn't. That he loved him, was proud of him, and that he would be there from now on. Cloud got on, and they began driving through Edge to a place outside of Midgar where they could practice without worring about monsters or people.

"...Does this mean I still can't ever drive-"

"_Yes_."

Something cute, and pointless and weird from me. :D I haven't read any fics like this...well, there was one with father's day, and it also concerned Marlene, but that was it. It kinda surprised me, so I wrote this. There are parts that I don't like, but I didn't know what do to instead so I left them alone. Please tell me what you think.

MRIMO


End file.
